The population is mainly comprised of blacks (the descendants of former slaves), East Indians (originally brought to the island as contract laborers from northern India), whites, and Chinese, many of whom are racially and culturally intermixed. The total population is estimated at 40% black, 40.3% East Indian, 18% mixed, 0.6% white, and 1.2% Chinese and other. Tobago is predominantly black.
While blacks and East Indians on Trinidad are economically interdependent, each community retains its cultural individuality: this is a life that has been called coexistence without assimilation. Intermarriage is rare, and facial and other bodily characteristics still separate the two groups, as do occupation, diet, religion, residence, agricultural landscape, sometimes dress, and often politics. Blacks are dominant in the urban areas, in the oil fields, in the poorer agricultural areas of the north, east, and southeast, and on Tobago. East Indians are dominant in the best agricultural regions. Although outnumbered in Port-of-Spain and San Fernando, urban East Indians are apt to be economically better off than the urban blacks and tend to be highly involved in commerce, industry, and the professions.
The East Indians were brought by British rulers. At that time, India's wealth was being taken from them by the British so those who came to work as indentured labourers were poor and wanted to support their families in India. Many who choose to come were condemned by their families for coming. East India's resilience to all this built a strong spirit.
Truth is like East Indians, Africans have to start afresh and build themselves. East Indians in Trinidad bought their lands from the state by eating little and saving the pennies. Nothing was given freely. Their ambitious nature is responsible for their current financial successes.
Africans had educational opportunities first in Trinidad and Tobago. East Indian education really started in the 1950'S with the help of Canadian Missionaries who built schools to educate East Indians and some were converted to Presbyterians.
Africans also had the opportunity to work in the said sugar and cocoa estates after slavery ended to earn money but they refused. I understand why. They wanted their freedom and no reminders of slavery life but to be blinded by a false sense of entitlement is madness. Earn properties like East Indians did, work and save.
I studies History in high school and university so I know what I am saying. If Africans want compensation they have to go to Spain and France as those countries were responsible for chaining their ancestors from Sub-sahara Africa.
Slavery has ended and Africans are free to choose their life paths. East Indians wealth was stolen from them and those who came had no money just their fighting spirit to improve themselves. A positive thought that one day it will be better. I was taught this as an East Indian.
Today both Africans and East Indians have educational opportunities that they can use to better themselves.
East Indians who talk of oppression stems from selective job opportunities, government housing (primary given to Africans). All of the government housing are mainly accommodated by Africns leaving East Indians to work hard everyday and push their children to better themselves in education to get jobs. Through education East Indians channel themselves where they getting jobs. Some east Indians who are not well educated become self employed, learn skill labour. In most east Indian families there is a constant push to become independent financially and not depend on family or the state.
I am an African who will be one of the first to build generational wealth in my family because I know that's the way forward. It is how Indians achieved their status in this country and it is why they have been able to move ahead of Africans.
Now to address my biggest issue with your comment, that Indians are oppressed because of jobs and housing. First of all if Africans get access to more housing, it's because of the low income aspect, since Africans are the ones at the bottom of the ladder. Since as you say Indians are no given houses, I would like to know how scores of them were receiving homes in the days of Manning, when they were already home owners. Also I have worked in the public service most my life and there seems to be no shortage of Indians in every different ministry and section I work in, in fact Africans are often outnumbered. Again HOW ARE INDIANS OPPRESSED. I will be real and express my feelings, what you and some other Indians are is UNGRATEFUL. You have no love for this country and are only interested in what you can get from it. You are no different than some of the Africans who live in depressed areas and are always complaining that the government does nothing for them. STOP BEING BIASED AND MISREPRESENTING MY COUNTRY TO THE WORLD, YOU ARE NOT OPPRESSED, YOU ARE NOT SUFFERING and if you still lived in India you would be at the bottom of the caste system, regardless of how rich or educated you are. Happy Indian Arrival Day, though it really should be Arrival Day because we all arrived and the Chinese, Syrians etc. should be celebrated too.